Superstitions
by Lorrean
Summary: Hey Dipper, do you believe in vampires?


**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gravity Falls.**

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There was a surprised gasp and a crash as Mabel fell off the chair she'd been standing on. She scowled as she rubbed her head and looked over at her disrupter.

"Dipping Sauce, don't sneak up on me! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry." Dipper crossed over to where his sister had fallen next to the floor-to-ceiling window, and offered him a hand. As he pulled Mabel off the floor he asked, "What were you doing standing on the chair? Is a light out?"

Carefully climbing back onto the chair, Mabel shook her head. "Nope, the light's not out."

Dipper frowned. "Then why are you – "

"Oh, come on, it's still there!" Mabel exclaimed suddenly, gesturing angrily towards the window. "I thought I would've scared it away when I fell down!" She sighed, grumbling, "Looks like I'm gonna have to take it down the hard way."

At this point Dipper would have easily admitted that he had no idea what Mabel was talking about. As the other twin began waving her hand towards the top of the window, Dipper tried once more to figure out what in the world was going on before promptly giving up.

"Mabel, what are you _doing_?"

"I'm hunting vampires!" Which was the most obvious thing in the world, from the way she said it.

Dipper blinked.

"You're what?"

"I'm hunting vampires," the girl said again, enunciating each word slowly. "Look, there's one right on the other side of the window!"

Dipper took a skeptical glance out the window, and then looked back at Mabel, one very incredulous eyebrow raised. "That's a bat, Mabel."

"Well I know _that_. But it's a lot easier to get them when they're in their bat forms. I'm just trying to scare it away before it decides to turn into a vampire," she added, as if that explained everything.

"I thought you're fond of vampires. You said yourself it would be cool if your boyfriend was a vampire."

"Well, now I don't because after that gnome incident, I decided I did not like vampires, and now I'm hunting them down!" Mabel grinned.

"Is that a clove of garlic you're holding?"

"What am I supposed to scare it away with – butter? But don't tell Soos," she added quickly. "Last time I took some of his garlic he totally freaked."

Sometimes it was hard to tell whether Mabel was being serious or not, and Dipper was more than aware that he himself didn't have the best sense of humor. When Mabel proceeded to wave the garlic in the bat's direction, muttering at it and telling it to "take its vampire-y business somewhere else", Dipper sighed.

"You don't really believe in vampires, do you?" There was a chance that this was just one of Mabel's weird pranks.

"'Course I do." The chair Mabel was standing on was going to tip over if she didn't stop standing on the back of it. "Don't you?"

Dipper blinked. It was so obvious that he _didn't_ that it took him a moment to formulate an answer.

"No."

Mabel's arm abruptly stopped waving. She whipped around, her shocked eyes halting on Dipper.

"You don't believe in vampires?"

Without changing his expression, Dipper repeated, "No."

"Bro-bro. How can you not believe in vampires?"

Dipper had to stop himself from smirking. "How _can_ you believe in vampires?"

Mabel raised an eyebrow. "Well, we spent our summer here in Gravity Falls, and we know by now this town is full of supernatural secrets! And by supernatural, I mean unicorns, leprechauns, fairies, werewolves, vampires. They could exist in this very town!" Mabel exclaimed, "The possibilities, Dipper! And you don't believe in vampires?"

"They're a work of fiction, Mabel. I've read their history written in the books. The research sound absurd. Even in the journal it says so!" Dipper frowned. "Believe me, they're not real." The boy replied in a flat voice, crossing his arms.

"Well, yeah! We've been through that. But remember all those mystery hunts," Mabel countered. "All those adventures we've been through. We've faced paranormal activities like never before seen by human eyes! You just gotta drill it into your thick skull!"

"Mabel." The boy sound exasperated. "I've uncovered a cryptic journal that has offered us insight into this town's mysteries, faced and battled various paranormal and supernatural creatures. _Heck,_ _even geometry tried to kill me_. I should know whether a work of fiction is genuine, or just a hoax."

"Ah-ah, you forgot _Dipdop_. Gnomes, mermen, zombies, shape-shifters, the apocalypse, dream demons..." Mabel listed, pointing a finger. "We've faced it all. And there is so much more in this town we have yet to uncover, don't you agree?"

Dipper was silent.

Now, as she repeated her previous question, Mabel was the one trying to conceal a smirk. "So tell me, brother dear. You don't believe in vampires?"

A moment of silence filled the space between Mabel's triumphant expression and Dipper's dubious one. Then, Dipper rolled his eyes and turned around, heading towards the hallway.

"There is no such thing as vampires, Mabel," he called confidently over his shoulder. "And if you keep standing on the back of that chair you're going to fall off of it again."

"Yeah, yeah. Just wait until the vampire tries to get _you_."

"Good night, Mabel."

Mabel didn't hear him. She was too busy swiping madly at the window with her fistful of garlic. Dipper laughed quietly as he stepped into the hallway.

It was dark in the hallway, and even darker in Dipper's bedroom. There was no moon out, and the black night sky poured into every crevice of Mystery Shack. Dipper turned on the light in his room to get changed, and when he switched it off before getting into bed the room seemed even more enveloped in shadow. In the stifling quiet that pervaded even the darkness, Dipper couldn't help but think over what Mabel had said.

Gnomes, mermen, zombies, shape-shifters, the apocalypse, dream demons…

Vampires.

Dipper rolled onto his side and closed his eyes. He wondered whether Soos would notice if two cloves of garlic went missing.

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 **A/N: Oh come now, Dipper, this is** _ **Gravity Falls**_ **we're talking about.**

 **Oh, and if you're finished reading, it would be nice of you to leave a review and tell me what you think!**


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